# New Wine Cooler, Do I "Have" To Plug The Drain Hole & Install Fans?



## falconman515 (Jul 10, 2011)

I am looking to purchase a Newair 28 bottle wine cooler and want to know do I have to plug the condensation drain hole and install fans for the cooler to work properly as a wineador?

Reason I ask is ultimately I probably will do those things right away and as of right now I have a small 8 bottle cooler with 2 SC shelves and 2 cheaphumidor cigar trays (see link for pictures:http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...ler-into-humidor-help-newbies-first-time.html) and I would like to just get the new cooler and to start of with just throw in my 2 trays into the cooler with a few backs of KL (which I already have) and set the temp were I want it, mount, monitor it with the Caliber III stuck to one of the shelves, with say 1 oust fan sitting on a shelf to just work the circulation a bit and that should be ok for the moment right? Of course this is after the few days of cleaning with baking soda and getting rid of the plastic smell.

At some point I will be ordering SC drawers and shelves from Forrest (3 drawers and 2 shelves) and maybe around that point in time I will think about routing the drain into some KL and Maybe and (if the oust fans aren't working great) install a PC fan or two.

I have to take this slow and since I only have about 80 or so Cigars in the 2 trays I don't think I need the fans just yet....the Oust fan should work ok.

But if I don't plug the drain will that let out Rh? Or would I be ok until I get the drawers and start building up a bigger stack of sticks and then I may have to worry more about escaping Rh?

Thanks for the info and how I need to plan out my new build.


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## Casey Jones (May 13, 2011)

falconman515 said:


> I am looking to purchase a Newair 28 bottle wine cooler and want to know do I have to plug the condensation drain hole and install fans for the cooler to work properly as a wineador?
> 
> Reason I ask is ultimately I probably will do those things right away and as of right now I have a small 8 bottle cooler with 2 SC shelves and 2 cheaphumidor cigar trays (see link for pictures:http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/v...ler-into-humidor-help-newbies-first-time.html) and I would like to just get the new cooler and to start of with just throw in my 2 trays into the cooler with a few backs of KL (which I already have) and set the temp were I want it, mount, monitor it with the Caliber III stuck to one of the shelves, with say 1 oust fan sitting on a shelf to just work the circulation a bit and that should be ok for the moment right? Of course this is after the few days of cleaning with baking soda and getting rid of the plastic smell.
> 
> ...


I just put a piece of electrical tape over the drain hole in mine. I dont think its big enough to reduce the RH significantly. Not sure about the fans though. I dont use them, but will probably try them out when I get my drawers.


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## falconman515 (Jul 10, 2011)

Casey Jones said:


> I just put a piece of electrical tape over the drain hole in mine. I dont think its big enough to reduce the RH significantly. Not sure about the fans though. I dont use them, but will probably try them out when I get my drawers.


After you put electrical tape over the drain how do you soak up the condensation that builds in the cooler? I have this small 8 bottle cooler and it doesn't have a drain (instructions say it doesn't need it and condensation should evaporate) and I get an overflown pudle throughout the cooler if I don't open it up and and use a paper towel to soak up the big puddle of water forming in the back.

So you just let the condensation form in a pool and evaporate or do you have something running the water into a bowl or something?

Ya I figured the fans would come later but I would just put in 1 to circulate air since the cooler is so much bigger than my current one.


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## Casey Jones (May 13, 2011)

falconman515 said:


> After you put electrical tape over the drain how do you soak up the condensation that builds in the cooler? I have this small 8 bottle cooler and it doesn't have a drain (instructions say it doesn't need it and condensation should evaporate) and I get an overflown pudle throughout the cooler if I don't open it up and and use a paper towel to soak up the big puddle of water forming in the back.
> 
> So you just let the condensation form in a pool and evaporate or do you have something running the water into a bowl or something?
> 
> Ya I figured the fans would come later but I would just put in 1 to circulate air since the cooler is so much bigger than my current one.


I honestly haven't had any condensation issues at all. I have 3 bags of kitty litter at the bottom to regulate the RH. No pools or puddles at all. I'll upload a pic in a little bit.


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## Casey Jones (May 13, 2011)

Untitled by codalz, on Flickr

Untitled by codalz, on Flickr

so I didn't notice until now, but it looks like there is some condensation. I think its either evaporating before it reaches the bottom or it get soaked up by the kitty litter. Either way, no pooling or dampness at the bottom at all.


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## ShortFuse (Jun 6, 2011)

Hey guys. I have a newair as well and I'm going to subscribe to this one and hopefully help. I will get some pics up soon. Its late tonight and I'm not gonna mess around too much. 

Plug the drain... without a doubt, unless you have a stable rH environment in which you live.

Fans... personal preference. If you get into it often enough you should be okay by circulating air when you open and close the door. I have a difference of 2% throughout my newair. I will get some pics up tomorrow.

Thom


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## falconman515 (Jul 10, 2011)

Casey Jones said:


> Untitled by codalz, on Flickr
> 
> so I didn't notice until now, but it looks like there is some condensation. I think its either evaporating before it reaches the bottom or it get soaked up by the kitty litter. Either way, no pooling or dampness at the bottom at all.


Do you have you cooler in a very cool place at all times? I have the A/c on here in Cali but during the days like now when its 100 to 110 degrees its around 80-82 degrees here in the office where the cooler will be placed.

Like I said my tiny 8 bottle cooler makes a HUGE pool of water then starts to run towards the front of the cooler even with condensation and I just assumed a larger one cooling a larger area would be worse (maybe there is an issue with my cooler possibly).

So you get really no condensation at all then huh?

Nice to know you aren't necessarily using a fan in your unit... I didn't think it was needed but I thought with the amount I open my cooler maybe just having 1 single oust fan in the middle pointing up would be sufficient.

Also too Casey with those 3 bags of KL at the bottom do you get sufficient Rh at the top of the cooler? And are those the 4"x12" bags from Petsmart? I was thinking of putting a large bowl on the bottom below the 3 drawers I will get from Forrest and a small 3x8 bag of KL in each drawer and the two shelves above 1 4x12 bags on each shelf.... that way I get plenty of humidity coming up from the highly saturated KL in the bowl and the drawers with singles get some Rh with the small bags of KL with a little bit of DW in them, then the 1 bag on each shelf towards the top to get Rh up since most of it will be enclosed in the drawers and the drawers will be above the bottom bowl. Am I on the right track here for proper Rh throughout? And maybe a single Oust fan at the bottom back to pull up some humidity from the bottom back past the drawers and a fan on the middle shelf to circulate the top. (this of course would be the final built specs towards the end)

Thanks for coming into the thread Thom ... I look forward to seeing your pics and getting some of your feedback on your Newair cooler as well.

Didn't you just recently get your drawers from Forrest? I think I read that they came in before you got back home and your wife was getting them all seasoned for you ready for your return.... and on that note thanks for taking time away from your life and family to serve this great country and protect all of us brother.... we appreciate it more than you know!!!

I look forward to everyone's feedback on this and the best route to go for my build.

Also to is a controller needed? I see some guys installing a temp controller.... I know the built in one isn't perfect but If you find the right temp on the built in controller that gives you the temp you want on your digital thermometer/hygrometer (Caliber III for me) then you should be good to go right? (example... you want the temp to be 68 degrees and for your Caliber III to read 68 the setting you put it at on the cooler is 63....Cause we all know the built in temp isn't dead on)


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## Casey Jones (May 13, 2011)

I keep it in the basement. I dont run the AC in the house when i'm not home and not in the basement even when I am home. It's been pretty hot here lately so It's around 84* in the basement right now. the wine cooler does a good job keeping the temp at 68-70. I have it set at the highest temp (66*).


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

Most definitely plug the drain hole. If you don't you're losing the moisture YOU'RE putting inside in order to humidify the cigars. The water's not appearing magically (unless you're opening and closing a lot in a very humid environment), but rather condensing from the air inside the humidor. If you're getting "huge pools" from such a small cooler, you've likely got too much water in there to begin with.

As far as what to do with the water, most seem to drain it back into the media (beads/litter) on the bottom of the cooler. It appears to me that Casy has enough litter in there that it's able to resorb the moisture without pooling. Others rig a length of plastic tubing and route it into a tupperware container with beads/litter on the bottom. This works brilliantly, since moist air rises and you need more charged media on the bottom than the top.

As stated, fans are really a matter of preference and depend upon how effective the fan that's already inside. A lot of guys have installed a couple of computer fans that are typically run off an old phone charger. There are various ways of mounting them (mostly onto wood sections) in order to keep them off the surface for better circulation. Most do this in order to equalize the humidity throughout the cooler, which becomes more difficult the more full the cooler becomes. Fans also help reduce condensation by keeping moist air from collecting around the cooling plate.

Another way to mitigate condensation is to better regulate temperature. By installing a Ranco, or Johnson Controls, outboard temp controller, you can keep the cooler within about 2*, rather than more violent swings allowed by the OEM thermostat.

Hope this helps.


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## falconman515 (Jul 10, 2011)

Thanks so much Don for the awesome reply! Ya I am not to sure the issue with my current small cooler but its condensates up pretty bad for some reason.

I will take all of this info in to play when I finally get the new cooler hopefully sooner than later.

Thanks again for coming in on this thread with all that great info.



Herf N Turf said:


> Most definitely plug the drain hole. If you don't you're losing the moisture YOU'RE putting inside in order to humidify the cigars. The water's not appearing magically (unless you're opening and closing a lot in a very humid environment), but rather condensing from the air inside the humidor. If you're getting "huge pools" from such a small cooler, you've likely got too much water in there to begin with.
> 
> As far as what to do with the water, most seem to drain it back into the media (beads/litter) on the bottom of the cooler. It appears to me that Casy has enough litter in there that it's able to resorb the moisture without pooling. Others rig a length of plastic tubing and route it into a tupperware container with beads/litter on the bottom. This works brilliantly, since moist air rises and you need more charged media on the bottom than the top.
> 
> ...


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